Secor Gallery exhibition ‘wandered’ inside Toledo artists’ minds

The works of nine Toledo artists were recently brought together for an exhibition, “Wandering: Inside the Artist’s Mind.

Piece by Luke Ellison. Photo Courtesy Colleen Seambos

Colleen Seambos curated the exhibition Aug. 15-22 at Secor Gallery on Jefferson Avenue as a capstone project for her master’s degree in arts administration from Savannah College of Art and Design.

She said she chose the title based on her mission of showcasing local talent. Many of the artists in her exhibition, including her own father, had never shown before.

“Mostly, my goal is just for people to see these artists,” Seambos said. “So that’s really what this exhibition is all about: showing Toledo what it has to offer right here at home. People know that we have a world-renowned museum, but they don’t really think about the individual artists who live and work here.”

Her father, Jim O’Connor, specializes in organic wood pieces. He said in a statement that he is excited to be included in the show, both to support her and to gain exposure in the Toledo art scene. For him, this exhibition has presented an opportunity to grow as an artist.

Seambos also personally knows each of the other artists who contributed his or her work, either through school or her full-time job at the Toledo Museum of Art.

She said these relationships made working with the artists and organizing the exhibition easy.

“I really didn’t set any parameters on their work. I just wanted it to reflect them as individuals,” Seambos said. “I have some pieces in the show, but really the exhibition is mostly about the other artists in the show.”

The result of this, she said, will be an exhibition that contains diverse mediums, colors, and — most importantly — personalities.

One of these artists is Amy Hackett-Saad, a coworker at the museum and former classmate at Lourdes University. She mainly creates ceramics pieces, but also had two oil paintings on display.

Photo Courtesy Colleen Seambos

When Seambos asked if she would be interested in taking part in the exhibition, Hackett-Saad said she immediately agreed, already choosing which pieces she felt best represent her identity as an artist.

“For a lot of people, it’s the art you remember, not the face you can put to it,” she said. “But there’s a person behind the art. It’s not just a great painting or anything like that. There was somebody that created that. And I think that [Seambos] really wanted to make that connection between the artwork and the artist, so that people could understand why we make what we do.”

“I think people will find it really interesting to see these artists,” Seambos said. “And to see how art that’s so completely different can relate to each other in such a seamless way.”

Seambos said she also aspires to incorporate cost-effective art education in future exhibitions. Her work in visitor services at the museum influences this goal of helping a wider range of people feel like they have access to art.

“I want anyone to be able to feel comfortable coming to the show,” she said.

Hackett-Saad agreed.

“When I had my senior exhibition [at Lourdes], it was very hands-off and I felt like I couldn’t connect with my audience,” she said. “I want people to think that art isn’t an intimidating thing. Art is tangible for everybody. It’s not off-limits. It shouldn’t be a scary thing. It’s not pretentious . . . it’s how you derive meaning from looking at it, whatever it means to you.”

Seambos said that for her, art represents an escape from other stresses. Because of her dyslexia, she struggled in math classes during school, but her art teachers helped relate art to math and other subjects.

She said she hopes all art in Toledo, not just her exhibitions, will do the same for other kids like her.

“I hope that this project keeps forming, and I don’t have to be the only one to do it,” Seambos said. “I really would just like to start the trend on planning these group exhibitions throughout Toledo, [and] even if we could get these artists in places like Sylvania and Perrysburg — expanding what local means to Toledo.”

And hopefully, Hackett-Saad said, this exhibition will also bring together a community that is trying to make Toledo a better place.

Although the show is over, Seambos said she hopes continue her mission of showcasing Toledo artists. For more information, visit the Facebook page, Wandering: Inside the Artist’s Mind.

‘Warning Signs’: Tom Lingeman to open exhibition at the Secor Gallery in time for Holiday Loop.

Weeks after his wife’s work occupied the space, Tom Lingeman will open a solo exhibition, “Warning Signs,” at the Secor Gallery, 425 Jefferson Ave.

“Warning Signs” will be on display in time for the Holiday Loop, the second annual free shuttle bus service to more than 30 venues, from noon to 5 p.m. Nov. 16.

His exhibition will be on display until Dec. 14 with almost all of the work for sale. Lingeman said prices will range anywhere from $500 to $10,000.

Lingeman and Secor Building Manager Keith Corder have been in talks to collaborate on a solo show for two years. Karen Roderick-Lingeman’s “Undefined” show with Skot

Tom Lingeman’s ‘Warning Signs’ will be on display until Dec. 14 at the Secor Gallery.

Photo courtesy Tom Lingeman

Horn ended Nov. 9.

The show will feature work in various mediums, including sculptures, paintings and two videos, all completed since July.

The exhibition was inspired in part by man-made disasters, like global warming or oil spills contaminating the oceans. This show displays “warning signs” against them.

“I hope that there’s a message in the show,” Lingeman said.

Lingeman said some of his work is inspired by his dog Tallie.

“I have a special relationship with a four-legged animal,” he said. “The Animalia in these pieces exhibit the number of gestures that I see in my dog.”

The videos included are called “A Walk in the Park” parts one and two and play on a loop. They were made while Lingeman was in Central Park. He came up with the idea while visiting New York City for his son’s wedding in June.

“I was inspired to do the movies by taking walks in the park over a four-day period,” Lingeman said. “It was beautiful weather.”

Lingeman returned to the city in August to make the movies. His son served as the technical director. Even though he was there for the weekend, the weather conditions were not suitable for filmmaking until Monday morning.

“But the conditions were perfect because it had just rained, it was overcast, so the walkways were wet, which was a really nice effect for filmmaking.

The colors popped … particularly the color of the New York City yellow cabs, caution signs, warning signs.” Lingeman said.

The first of the two films was done with Lingeman being pushed in a wheelchair while he held a camera in his hand. The route he filmed was in a loop around the area.

“The movie is … a digital loop of a real loop,” Lingeman said.

Lingeman went back to New York a third time to film during clearer conditions, similar to those that originally inspired him to make the movie. Part two was filmed using an altered jogging stroller instead of a wheelchair.

The two movies were filmed along the same route, just on different days of the year. The videos will be projected on opposite ends of the gallery, giving sound to the exhibit.

“I see new media … as being more or less magic media,” Lingeman said. “I sort of see the flat-screen, HD monitor as being similar to movies the way paintings are portrayed in ‘Harry Potter’ at Hogwarts, the way they move as you go by them. There may be the viewer that will stand or pull up a chair and watch them continuously.”

Lingeman has shown his work on an international scale, but said nothing compares to exhibitions here at home.

“Showing in Toledo is much more rewarding than showing anything I’ve done overseas because the Toledo audience is an audience that I know and love,” he said.

Two artists display ‘Undefined’ work at Secor Gallery

Skot Horn and Karen Roderick-Lingeman were familiar with each other’s work before they met. The two will soon combine efforts for the “Undefined” exhibition.

The exhibition will include paintings and drawings by Horn and ceramics by Roderick-Lingeman. Their work will be on display from Oct. 12 to Nov. 9 at the Secor Gallery, 425 Jefferson Ave. A reception will take place from 6-11 p.m. Oct. 12.

The two debated what to call the show and decided on “Undefined” during a conversation in which Horn was describing his work.

“We both looked at each other and said, ‘We sort of like that,’” Roderick-Lingeman said. “I do vessel pieces with real organic edges.”

Horn agreed: “Nobody likes to be put in a category,” he said.

The artists work in similar ways, often starting a piece

over if they dislike how it turned out. Sometimes the finished product takes four tries.

Illustration by and courtesy

Skot Horn.

Roderick-Lingeman is a senior lecturer at the University of Toledo and an instructor at the Toledo Museum of Art. She received her bachelor’s in art education from the University of Toledo and her master’s in fine art from the University of North Dakota.

Roderick-Lingeman has had her work exhibited internationally, nationally and regionally.

Horn received his bachelor’s in fine arts from the Art Institute of Chicago. His work is in many private and public collections. He said his earliest memories include playing with wooden building blocks and watching his mother make quilts.

Both artists said they moved to Toledo with the intent on it being temporary.

“I didn’t mean to stay here,” Horn said.

Roderick-Lingeman, who was born in Toledo, came back after graduate school to visit family and friends. She started teaching at the Toledo Museum of Art.

“I lived in North Dakota, for gosh sakes; I can live anywhere,” Roderick-Lingeman said. “I was only going to stay here until the end of the academic year. If I didn’t have a position, I was just going to move someplace I’d like to live.”

As a child, Roderick-Lingeman traveled with her family across the United States and Canada.

“Memories of those experiences and my continued national and international travels have greatly influence[d] my work,” she said in an artist statement. “Recollections of a specific location or moment in time are not only recollections of the environment or atmospheric condition but are also related to the reason for being at that specific location at that specific time with that specific person.”

The impressions and stories in such recollections are part of her artwork, she said.

Horn said spontaneity inspires his artwork.

“Spontaneity is an important quality in my work,” he said. “A sense of urgency pervades the marks I make on canvas and paper. Allowing intuition to guide my hand has led to many personal insights and unexpected discoveries in search of my own personal truth.”